Homeschooling

*The practice of teaching one's children at home* All parents do it. That's not only my opinion, but also a dictionary definition. There is lots of teaching going on in our home. And so, that's why I consider myself a homeschooler.

Shedding a little more light on the issue, some of us teach our children at home exclusively and some send their children to boarding school, stretching the definition of *at home* to its thinnest. Even the families who teach mainly at home usually contract for some services within their communities in the same way that the family who contracts with the boarding school is outsourcing most of their teaching efforts.

For example, if a family is involved with a homeschool group or if they consolidate their efforts and one parent teaches a group science class, some services are outsourced. Consider that the practice of enrolling one's children in recreational activities (physical education) through local associations is also contracting for services. Even using one's public library is, in a sense, contracting for outside services.

And so, in our family, we chose to contract for some of the teaching efforts by sending our children to a private, Christian school. Although we highly regard our responsibility before God to teach our children (Deut 6), we chose to delegate a portion of this responsibility to some Christian helpers for a part of the day.

We never lost sight of our duty before God to bring up our charges in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here's a link to a speech I gave several times. We continue to have the utmost regard for the Lord's Will and the vision He has helped us to have for their roles as Christian women of the 21st century.

With that explanation, now I will attempt to answer a questionnaire about which homeschooling books/resources I found most valuable or invaluable.

Homeschooling Meme

Dana/Dana (Okay, I'm (that's Ruthanne)breaking the rules here because Dana is not a homeschooler. However, she is very homeschool-friendly and loves life and learning. I really like Dana and would love to hear her thoughts on worthy educational resources.)

As you see I've been *tagged* And while there is no pressure to participate, I think I will. Actually I was thinking about these questions BEFORE I was tagged. And I started an answer....

So, in order to finish, I will break down the answers to one per day. Otherwise, the thought of putting all these ideas in one entry seems to keep me from completing the task.

That's the ticket...break it down into *doable* portions.

Touchstone

Shoutout to any of my reader/lurkers who subscribe to this magazine. I am looking for an article in the July 2006 issue. It's the one about cousins.

Leave me a comment if you are willing to email or snail mail me a copy of this article.

Thanks.

Sunday Sermon Series

For the past five weeks, and I expect for the coming five, at least, our pastor is preaching on various Scriptures and tying in the lives/works of historical personages. This is related to his particpation in Vision Forum's Mega History Conference which took place in July. I was unable to attend, and so, I am delighted to be hearing snippets JCM's lectures.

So, far we have covered 1) John Calvin and II Cor 10:1-6; Martin Luther and Romans 3; 3) Augustine of Hippo and Psalm 48; and 4) Survey of Martyrs from 1st cent thru 17th cent and John 15:16-27; and 5) Jesus thru the centuries and John 1:1-14 & Phil 2:5-11. Obviously, the hour-long sermons are just skimming through history, but they are informative and motivating.

One of the best effects of sitting under this type of Reformed preaching is the HOPE it inspires. Just like Gen Rbt E Lee in a letter to one of his captains, lamented that the *march of providence is so slow.......but that it is history that teaches us to hope.*

From my point of view, I dont want to be one of those people described by George Santayana.....who cant remember the past, and therefore, is condemned to repeat it.



PS Last Sunday, the girls sang a capella *Great in Thy Faithfulness* 

Wish you could of heard them :)

Meme for Five Things

Freezer
1)Bread and bread crumbs
2)Homemade soup
3)Nuts=pecans,walnuts,peanuts
4)Flour
5)Chicken Breasts

Closet
1)Upper rack=fall/winter clothes
2)Lower rack=spring/summer clothes
3)Floor(left)=dirty clothes basket
4)Floor(right)=shoe basket
5)Upper shelf=quilts/blankets

Car
1)Map
2)Jumper cables
3)Briefcase
4)Water bottle
5)Purse

Purse
1)Drivers License
2)Checkbook
3)Pen
4)Lipstick
5)Cell phone

On my mind
1)New employee
2)DD#1=Dec wedding
3)DD#2=Italian semester
4)DD#3=Newly collegiate
5)DD#4=Driving in AM traffic

Happy Birthday
DD#2, my artist/writer, is celebrating two decades!

In less than ten days she will be spending her Fall Semester studying art and writing in Italy!

She is the model in the painting in my Fine Art Friday entry over on my Xanga site.


Her special dinner menu which we all thoroughly enjoyed: Grilled Steak, Steamed Corn on the Cob, Steamed Broccoli, French Bread, NY Style Cheesecake w/fresh strawberries drizzled with hot chocolate fudge sauce.

Setting the Table
Just to give you an idea from last year's celebration, I'm posting this photo. This year's table setting uses a lime green cloth and napkins! Dishes are off-white with blue trim. Each place will have a knife, fork, spoon, dessert fork, and glass. Do you set the table completely for each meal in your home?

The colors and shapes on the plate have always captured my interest. In the case of our Low Country Boil, consider: The shrimp are pink and crescent-shaped. The sausage is red and log-like. The yellow/white corn is cylindrical or silo-like. The potatoes are small and spherical. The salad is very green, light and fluffy. Lest you think I a little *loco* with my efforts, consult my mentor, Mrs. Schaeffer, in her chapter on food, pgs 122-123, in Hidden Art of Homemaking.

A plate can be though of at times as a kind of *still life* - not a lasting one, of course, but lasting in memory. Dishes should be apart of the background for the colours of the food, and as one chooses dishes there should be some variety - even if the dishes are polished pieces of wood, shells, or large leaves from the jungle!

See my Fine Art Friday entry on my xanga site, too :)

Grocery Shopping

Although this rule is not hard and fast, Thursdays is my preferred grocery shopping day. If I were a *senior*, I might be tempted to switch to Wednesdays because of the discount offered :) But when the children were very young, I shopped only once per week and on Thursdays. It made for a good routine. We economized that way. We made friends at the store because they knew us.

So, since it's Thursday, I'm headed out to secure the foodstuffs for the Low Country Boil. Here's the menu. I won't embarass myself by listing the amount of each item needed to serve 16 guests, but I am wishing I could find my list from last year. It would save some brainwork.

Low Country Boil (shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes)
Caesar Salad (DH's favorite)
Coleslaw (Becky is bringing)
Rolls
Pickle Tray

Iced Tea, Beer

Dessert (Carolin is bringing)

PS Although I dont usually use coupons (I buy store brands), I do shop from a list and rearrange when I'm there according to what's on sale, not having studied the ads before-hand.

Low Country Boil
Taken last July, this photo relates what's happening today and now. Guests are coming for this fun feast on Saturday. I am busy shopping, cleaning, and cooking.

Details concerning the recipe will follow.

Pictured in the photo (L-R) DM, DD#3, Nephew, Nephew, DD#1, DD#4

The Brook

Seems as if I've lost my blogging stride, but I trust it will return in time. Routines and habits play a big role in how much I accomplish each day, so once that rhythm is in synch again, the posts should begin to flow.

Which makes me think of this neat poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and how Spurgeon capitalized on one of its phrases.

The Brook

I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

Workmen Update

Did they come this Monday morning to work? NO!
Did they call? NO!
Did they leave a note last Friday, when they left at 2pm? NO!
Is the job complete? NO!!

In case you were wondering :)

Workmen

No time to post as *they* will be here shortly to finish a project started LAST AUGUST!!!

Time Management

Years ago I worked for a real estate broker who used a timer to help him get his work done. A few years later, I read Side-Tracked Home Executive, and many of the housekeeping techniques taught by my mother were reiterated in this organizational handbook.

Today I continue to use these methods to help me get all my work done. For example, I wash on a certain day of the week. If it doesn't get all done that day (this doesn't happen often), then the task waits for the next scheduled wash day. I try not to worry about it in between.

Another good time management technique is to rest from my ordinary labors on Sundays :) It's amazing how the Lord provides the time to get things done on the other six days, when I honor His command to keep the Sabbath *holy* Shame on me when I get out of line.

One more adage: Learn to complete a day's work in a day's time.

Rival Lovers
A story of the War Between the States
by William Ferguson Smith
Edited by Harriet Stovall Kelley


Written more than 125 years ago, Rival Lovers is a story of a young Georgia boy who went away to war in 1863, fell in love and into great adventure, and then returned home to write about his experience.



It is a courtly tale of romance that lay lost and forgotten until his great niece discovered the original text while cleaning out the old Smith Family home in Flovilla, GA in 1971.


The second half of the book contains a biographical sketch and other writings by Smith, who became one of his county's leading and most conscientious citizens

Where Are You?

Some people like Cindy, like to move, I don’t. So, my list of places I've lived is rather short. If anyone asks where I'm from (standard 1st question in the South), it's the big *A*, even tho' I'm 40 miles north of it right now, and rarely venture into the city. This list is chronological.

Atlanta, GA
Mtn Home AFB, ID
Atlanta, GA
Hillsdale, MI
Atlanta, GA
Alexandria, VA
Kalamazoo, MI
Charleston, SC
Gadsden, AL
Rome, GA
Canton, GA

Blogging will be lighter than normal until the end of the month, as reunion time is here!!

Thanks

Thanks to all y'all for stopping by and wishing my guy a happy b'day! It was indeed happy and we feasted on chicken and squash roasted on his new grill.
To round out the menu, I served corn on the cob, cauliflower salad, and rolls.
The birthday cake served with chocolate ice cream is posted on my xanga site.

HUSBAND LOVE

Five Things I've Learned

from my husband
1) Laughter is good medicine.
2) Chinese food is a must!
3) Non-verbal communication is a language.
4) Exercise is fun. Repeat three time :)
5) To eat popcorn at the movies.

If you stop by, wont you consider leaving a birthday wish for him?

My Fearless Leader and Me
who will be celebrating a birthday soon and will be the subject my next entry.









Gerund Meme
Awaking..........5:30 am
Drinking.........Black coffee
Devoting.........with Spurgeon's Morning/Evening
Reading..........Edith Schaeffer's Affliction
Organizing.......my desk LOL
Writing..........a few checks
Sending..........a couple of greeting cards to ailing friends
Talking..........to family members to coordinate transportation
Weathering.......the heat; high today is 96
Walking..........the neighborhood hills
Breakfasting.....with a strawberry smoothie
Dressing.........in a cute short jean skirt :)
Washing..........clothes
Ironing..........white Irish linen table napkins
Drying...........towels
Folding..........shirts
Sorting..........socks
Empyting.........trashcans
Shopping.........for groceries
Reunioning.......the Linches
Telephoning......florists
Wedding..........on the brain
Eating...........BLT's for dinner
Watching.........1776 (film adaptation of musical)
Sleeping.........around 10p

Environment
our conversations, attitudes, behaviour, response or lack of response, hardness or compassion, our love or selfishness, joy or dullness, our demostrated trust and faith or our continual despondency, our concern for others or our self pity -- all these things make a difference to the people who have to live in our environment.




From pg 209 of the paperback edition, Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

Chapter 14 of Mrs Schaeffer's book is simply stupendous and should be read often. While she introduces the concept of *environment* by making an analogy to a new art form, what she really wants to delineate is the environment of one's own home, which is not new. I call that *atmosphere*, something which is fairly intangible, but not too difficult to put into effect. We all do it whether we want to or not. Mrs. Schaeffer continues her essay by comparing and contrasting ways in which to create this hidden art form.

This entry is copied from my xanga site where I announced my Father's Day tribute, five entries recounting a few of the many things I learned from my father.

I'm on a mission to collect and read all of Mrs. Schaeffer's books. I just checked out of the library, Affliction and The Tapestry.

Which ones do you own and like the best?

How to say no

In a light-hearted way, I might say that I learned this tactic from my father…who does have a reputation for bringing up the opposite side of an argument for the sake of discussion. Can you say "devil's advocate?" Or it might be a gene he passed on. But, in reality, there is great comfort in his ability to assess a situation accurately and advise prudently, even if it means telling a child, a spouse, or a colleague "no." The current jingle or ad campaign *just say no* is farcical to me because rarely can one say "NO" one time (against taking drugs, drinking/driving, whatever) and have it suffice or protect. One must be able to say no over and over again. Repeatedly we are faced with situations in which we must resist evil and do the right thing. This means learning how to say no (or voting against.)  Heaven help those who don’t ask or seek counsel and proceed based on thinking that "the counselor will just say no" or say to oneself, "I'll go ahead; it's easier to ask forgiveness afterwards." Thank God I have a father who has the strength of character to say no, not in a knee-jerk, tyrannical fashion, but after careful contemplation with Biblical resolve to conserve his faith, family, and society.

He's a conservative.